Fatal Fire: Soul
by t.j.guard
Summary: Our good captain continues his quest to free his brother, and reluctantly, the Dark One's son agrees to help. But no one knows what awaits at the end of the tunnel.
1. The Candle

Fatal Fire: Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

The Candle

Bae stared at his fingers, resting on the pillow an inch from his nose. That he sent Captain Hook into a harbor to an unknown fate was never far from his mind, no matter what the captain had done or why he had done it. He curled his fingers together and then unfolded them. They were the same fingers he always had, but now they could do things he never could've or would've wanted to dream of.

Footsteps, accompanied by the tap of a cane, entered his room. Bae looked up at Rumpelstiltskin but didn't move and said nothing. Rumpelstiltskin sat on the edge of the bed and lay a hand on Bae's cheek. Bae closed his eyes and pulled his own hand to his chest. He opened his eyes after a long moment, and he smiled. "Yes, Bae, it's real," Rumpelstiltskin said, as if reading his son's thoughts.

The smile faded from Bae's lips, and he asked, "All of it?"

"Is something wrong?" Bae turned his gaze to his hands. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?" He nodded. "That's okay. It's okay to be afraid, because I'm right here with you, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Bae sat up and pulled his father close. Rumpelstiltskin patted his back. "It's okay," he said again.

"Papa," Bae whispered, "what if I...what if I turn out like you?"

"You won't let yourself."

"How come?"

"For the simple reason that you won't let yourself."

"How do you know?"

"I know you, Bae."

"I hope you're right." Rumpelstiltskin sighed and gently rocked his son back and forth. "Perhaps I'm going nuts, but in the opposite direction."

"I can teach you, if you want?"

Bae pushed himself back. "Teach me what?"

"The basics, of course. Where else would I start?"

"Does that involve anything overtly evil or dangerous?"

"Well, that, Bae, is entirely up to you. Magic itself is not good or evil. It depends on who uses it."

"You used it."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "I know, my boy."

Bae crossed his legs and leaned forward, searching his father's eyes. "You're not hiding anything from me, and you're not plotting against me."

"Of course. Why would I do such a thing to you?"

"You tend to be...overzealous when it comes to magic."

"That's true."

"Have you been getting better about it?"

"Do you think so?"

"Perhaps." Bae scrutinized his father for a moment and then exhaled. "Alright," he said. "But I want to start small, and I want what you teach me to be neutral."

"Done." They shook on it.

OUAT

Once in the kitchen, Rumpelstiltskin rummaged through a cabinet and then returned with a small lavender candle. He set it on the table and stepped back. "I need you to relax and...focus on the wick," he said to his son. Bae took first a quick breath and then a deep one, staring at the candle. Gradually, he relaxed, and the wick flared to life.

Bae started and stumbled back. The flame died out. "What just happened?" he asked.

"You just did magic."

"That was me?" Rumpelstiltskin nodded. Bae swallowed and leaned against the table, staring at the candle. He glanced at Rumpelstiltskin and said to himself, Don't freak out. He regained his focus. The wick caught again, and Bae looked up at his father, who was smiling. He relaxed, and then the candle shattered. Bae ducked and cried out. "Papa, I'm sorry," he said when he straightened.

"It's okay," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"I blew up a candle. How's that okay, or even possible?"

Rumpelstiltskin smoothed back some of Bae's hair. "It was an accident. It can be fixed."

"How?"

He watched as his father waved a hadn over the pieces of the candle. Of their own accord, they moved together and formed the complete shape of the candle. The pieces fused together, and a flame danced on the wick to complete the picture. "That's how," he said.

"Oh," he said weakly.

"Are you alright?"

"Like I said, I blew up a candle. I mean, being able to light it's all well and good, but..." Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "You know what? I think I'll go for a walk or something. Clear my head, figure things out."

"Alright."

Bae nodded, gave a small smile, and blew out the candle on his way to the front door.


	2. Matters of Discussion

Matters of Discussion

Bae was about to knock on August's door when it opened, revealing his puppet friend and an older gentleman. The gentleman nodded to Bae and walked out as he entered. August closed the door behind him. "What's up?"

"It's happening again," Bae said.

"You destroyed another fax machine?"

"A candle this time."

"How's that possible?"

"Magic."

"Well, in this world, magic is unpredictable."

"It's not even supposed to exist here."

"But it does."

"Goddamn you."

"I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"Because I think you're dangerous."

"Excuse me?"

August sighed and took a step forward. "Ben, this isn't fax machines and phones anymore. This isn't the difference between why you'd choose a flashlight or a candle in a given situation. I've felt it for a long time. You can do things, things you might not be aware of. What happened on the pier was only the beginning."

"I didn't want or need this conversation right now. I blew up a candle this morning, and I nearly killed a man last night. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was turning into my father."

"But you're not."

"How do you know? How does Papa know? How does anyone know that? For all any of us know, I could start killing everyone in this town, and everyone will have to flee."

"They can't. They lose their memories forever."

Bae turned away from August and walked over to the window. He braced himself against the sill and bowed his head against the glass. His heavy sigh left a spot of fog on the pane. "Once, August, just once. I can't deal with what you can feel. I need time to process it. I need something to occupy my time so I don't have to think about it right away. August, give. Me. A break." He turned slowly to August. The puppet's eyes widened and he took a step back. "What?" he snapped.

"You...you don't feel it?"

"Feel what?" August fetched a mirror from the bathroom, and in his own reflection in the glass, Bae saw something he didn't recognize but despised on sight. He drove his fist through the mirror, all the way through the wood behind it, and straightened, staring at August. The mirror's remains fell from the puppet's hands. August said nothing as Bae, stricken with fear, rushed from the room.

OUAT

Mulan walked into the one chamber of the fortress that she had been ordered to avoid except under special circumstances. This was one such event.

When she entered, she immediately noticed something odd about the furniture's layout: the chair between the desk and the hearth was facing the hearth rather than the desk and thus the door. "Commander?"

"What news?" asked a female voice from the chair.

"...Ma'am?" Mulan raised her eyebrows.

"What news?"

She cleared her throught and squared her shoulders. "He found his power."

"Where is he?"

"In the world the prisoners call Storybrooke."

"What prisoners?"

"Two females, the so-called Savior and her mother."

Mulan noticed the commander's hesitation, extremely brief but still apparent. The commander said, "In any event, they will want to return, yes? Imprisonment here is nothing to sneeze at."

"So far as I can tell, returning has been their only concern."

"Help them," Mulan's commanding officer said. "Recruit whoever you need to to accomplish this, and let me know what you find as soon as you find it."

"You'll be the first to know."

The commander paused again, though Mulan could tell this was no hesitation. "You may go." Mulan bowed briefly and rushed out of the room.

The commander smiled at the fire over her folded hands. "Time to come home," she said.

OUAT

Tinker Bell paced back and forth across the room she rented at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, for a long time struggling to think of a solution to what she had informally dubbed the "Captain Hook problem" and even less formally as the "Jas problem."

"Wendy, of course," she blurted out. She stopped her pacings at once and called up a small crystal ball. "Paging Wendy," she said. A woman with brown eyes and dirty blonde hair tied back in a pony-tail with two sets of strands, one reaching her eyebrows and the other reaching her cheekbones, tied off with steel beads and serving as her bangs, appeared in the sphere. She seemed somewhat surprised. "Yes, I know you're not expecting me," Tink said, "especially given that I kind of dumped you like a hot tomale after Neverland, but Jas is here, in Storybrooke."

"With my fatal flame," Wendy said, leaning back.

"You know, I've long suspected Wendy's not your name."

"He gave it to me."

"Ah."

"So this is your news: the captain is in Storybrooke."

"He's trying desperately to get his brother out of the wraith."

"He knows it can't be done, right? The wraith is a soul-sucker, and once it has a soul, it keeps it forever."

"He refuses to believe that, and if he falls, he's going to bring everyone down with him."

"And what happens after that is anyone's guess," Wendy concluded for the fairy. "But if he can be talked out of this grief-induced psychosis and into something resembling an actual plan of action, whatever it may be, then we might have achieved something."

"Maybe, but it only works so long as he agrees to it."

"The same with all therapies."

"But it's our better alternative, versus just killing him."

Wendy nodded. "True. I'll accept that."

"So I'll find him and talk him down, and if I need to, I'll refer him to the town's therapist, Jiminy Cricket."

"Excellent. I wish you the best."

"You, too." Tink took the ball in her hand and closed her fingers over it. It disintegrated.


	3. The Well

The Well

Bae slowed on the road and stared up at the sky for a moment before noticing the well. He walked toward it, and he felt the same sensation he felt when he entered town. The air was different here. According to August, this was where all of Storybrooke's magic originated. "August also says the waters here can restore what has been lost," Bae said to himself as he leaned against the well. "I could use a little piece of mind right now, or maybe a little help. I'm pretty lost."

A globe of water floated up from the well and stopped when it was eye-level with Bae. While the water moved slightly, it retained the shape of a near perfect sphere. Bae pulled the crystal indicator from his pocket and held it up for comparison. The indicator began to glow, and the water responded in kind. Bae tentatively released the crystal ball, and it floated next to the globe of water. "What can you do?" he asked the crystal ball. It merely floated and glowed.

"You have no idea how crazy you look."

Bae whirled around to face the speaker, the last person he expected to see in the woods: Captain Hook. "What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I'd ask you the same question, but I can see you're asking inanimate objects for advice and it isn't working quite so well for you." Hook walked up to the well and asked, "Are you using that drop of magical water?"

"I don't even know how."

"You're doing yourself a disservice." The captain unscrewed a mason jar he had evidently carried with him, with a little help from his hook, and worked it around the floating drop so that it touched the inside of the jar and spilled into the bottom. He replaced the lid and hooked the jar onto his belt, next to a small pouch that also failed to escape Bae's notice. "Magic can do amazing things."

"That's what everyone says."

"It's the truth."

Bae smirked and stared at the floating crystal ball. Then he studied the captain in profile. Usually Hook gave him a terribly dangerous vibe, but this time it wasn't so. "Why're you here?" he asked. "For real this time."

"For my brother. Don't you remember?" the captain replied. Oh, Bae remembered, alright, but he said nothing. "By the way, did you have any luck finding him?"

"You turned on us, so I started to suspect this brother of yours didn't exist."

"He does, or rather, he did."

"Is it safe to assume that whatever happened to him had something to do with the wraith?"

"If my thinking is correct," Hook said carefully, "then he _became_ the wraith."

Bae's eyes widened. The captain nodded as if to say, "Yes, I said that." "And you think this happened because your brother made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin." The captain nodded again.

"Are you willing to try not to kill me in the course of this?"

"Yes. I'm getting desperate."

"I can tell."

"I need you alive."

"Why? Am I the only one able to find your brother? Because I doubt that. There are a lot of bounty hunters and bailbondspeople in this world."

"I need you alive because if my brother is the wraith, you're the only one who can save him."

"Why do you say that?"

"I just know these things."

Bae snatched the crystal ball and said, "I'm watching you," gesturing to the captain. Then he turned and started back down the path toward Storybrooke.

"Aren't you the least bit curious about what you are? About the magic that burns inside you?" the captain asked. Bae stopped and turned but one degree toward him. "So you are, then."

"Unless you intend to sell me out again."

"You don't know that, so I should assume you are." Bae turned to face Hook. "Fire destroys, but it also creates, brings light and heat, provides incentive, if the right things are burned. Fire is a force of nature."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"What's your name?"

"You mean what do I call myself?"

"No. I mean, what's your name?"

Bae took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Baelfire."

"That's what I thought."

"Excuse me, but where is this going again?"

"Do you know what Baelfire means?"

"I never thought to ask."

"Baelfire," Hook said as he stepped toward Bae, "is Old English for "fatal fire". It also means "great fire" or, according to some, and this shouldn't much trouble you, "evil fire". I'm telling you all this because you will need to know it."

"Why would a man who almost killed me or my father want to willingly offer this information?"

"Because I got what I needed by temporarily playing you false. Now, I need you on my side, so I need to be honest."

"Are you?"

"Last time I checked," Hook said with a smirk. Bae pocketed the ball and studied the captain. He hadn't once felt that Hook wanted him dead or harmed in any way during this encounter, but he hadn't felt that Hook had Bae's goodwill at heart, either. Granted, Bae didn't need the captain's goodwill. He didn't need anything from the captain, when he thought about it. He wanted nothing from the captain but his honesty, and he made sure his voice and demeanor made that fact abundantly clear when he stated this fact. "Yes," Hook said. "I understand."

"Good. I'll still be watching you." Bae walked down the path and back toward Storybrooke.

"It still stands, what I said about my brother."

"I know."


	4. The Ring

The Ring

"There you are. I was about to call your dad," August said when Bae walked into Granny's Diner and attracted his attention. August passed him a drink, which Bae threw back without a second thought.

"Don't ever think about doing that again, please," Bae said.

"Rough walk?"

"Weird walk."

"What happened?" Bae scooted closer to August and summarized the events at the well in a low voice. "Yeah, totally should've taken your word for it," the puppet said when Bae had finished. "That sounds really, really sketch."

"It does to me, too, which is why I'm desperately trying to be careful. I've no doubt what he says about my name is true, but everything else? It's anyone's guess."

"The brother?"

"Pretty sure he exists...existed. But I'm still not taking any chances."

August nodded and started to nurse another drink. "I'm with you on that one." Bae studied the menu for a moment and then stared at the counter around the base of the glass in front of him.

"This town," Bae said suddenly, looking up. "No one can leave without losing their memories, yes?"

"Yeah, except maybe us. Haven't tried it yet."

"We got in alright."

"Yeah, and we have nothing to revert back to if we forget, which means we forget everything."

"Probably why you hadn't decided to cross yet. I wouldn't blame you."

"Thank God for that."

"You guys talking about the border?" a woman asked across the counter. She had a rag in one hand.

"We are."

"Good luck getting out. We're all trapped here."

"So we've been told." August silently returned to his drink. "Do you know how far it reaches?"

"All around Storybrooke, right at the town limits."

"Does it affect the harbor at all, do you know?"

The woman shrugged and shook her head. "Don't know what to tell you."

"Well, I know how we can find out."

August looked at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Let's go."

OUAT

August, Bae, and the woman whom he learned was called Red walked to the harbor, which took about thirty minutes. Boats floated all around them, including Captain Hook's own vessel, with the phrase 'Jolly Roger' proudly emblazoned on the side. Bae stood at the edge, staring out over the water and struck by the sense that he was at the edge of the world. August and Red were immediately behind him.

He closed his eyes, remembering the feel of the change in the air when he entered Storybrooke. "What are we looking for again?" Red asked.

"Proof that this is, in fact, a Ring," Bae replied.

"A what?"

"It's a version of a Barrier that's been around even since my time. It's a way of keeping everyone here in and everyone out there out. Rings don't affect bodies of water, which is why rivers, lakes, and oceans are common ways around them."

"Oh."

"So if what's surrounding Storybrooke is a Ring, and it doesn't affect water, then this is our way out?" August asked.

"Potentially."

"Why would it even be a Ring?" Red asked. "Regina cast the curse, and no way was she around when Rings disappeared off the face of the realm."

"Regina may have cast the curse, but she didn't create it," Bae said. "It's a lot older than everyone here thinks it is." He returned his focus to the water before either of them could respond, but he already knew what he needed to. "Besides, I need to talk to a certain someone about this." They walked back into the town proper.

OUAT

Bae walked into his father's pawn shop and waited for the customer to leave before he said, "Rings aren't supposed to exist anymore."

"What do you mean?" Rumpelstiltskin asked.

"But, they existed when you created the curse. They existed when you let me go."

"I take it you figured out that's what surrounds Storybrooke."

"Yes, after a fashion."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think Regina may have made some modifications, and I don't want to test the boundaries here too much too soon, largely because I don't want to die."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Fair enough." He approached his son and whispered, "Anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"Everyone seems to think I'm not gonna be like you, but I'm not so sure."

"Personally, I hope I can be a man you can aspire to be like, but I'm really not sure if it can be done."

"But as you used to be...Papa..."

"What is it?"

"Papa, I'm afraid. I'm scared to death."

Rumpelstiltskin firmly gripped his son's shoulders and then pulled Bae into his arms. "Bae, I'm right here," he whispered. "I always will be. And Bae, you are something I could never be. You're brave to the point of impulsive. Where I'd run, you'd stay and fight with everything you have. I'm the village coward. Everyone always thought you'd make a fine warrior and saw dying on the battlefield in your future."

"Morraine included?"

"Yes, Bae. Morraine included." He pulled away. "Speaking of, have you figured out the crystal ball yet?"

"I figured out that it glows at the well, near the water. I think I might've made some of the water float, too, next to the ball."

"That's...that's good, Bae. That's very good."

Bae relaxed. "At least I didn't blow anything up." They laughed together for a moment, and Bae hugged his father again. "I'll see you at home." Rumpelstiltskin nodded, and Bae gave a parting smile as he walked out of the pawn shop.


	5. The Well Part Two

The Well Part Two

Hook sat next to the well and leaned his back against the cold stones, and he stared at the trees and chewed his lip. He couldn't go anywhere in town, and he certainly didn't want to go back to his ship, since someone, among the many that he didn't want to know about him, would've suspected that. The fewer people who thought he was alive, the better.

"Oh, there you are," Tinker Bell said as she emerged from the forest and tried not to trip over a bush.

"What were you expecting?" Hook asked when he stood.

"Someone a lot crazier."

"My ally in the search for my brother is back, at least, for now."

"You do realize that if the wraith has your brother's soul, there's no hope of getting him back, don't you?"

"I don't think the wraith has my brother's soul. I think my brother is the wraith, and that's a different matter entirely."

Tink walked over to him. "Think you can get him out?"

"I don't know."

"Magic always comes with a price, regardless of who uses it."

"Of this I'm well aware." Tink saw in his eyes exactly what he was thinking of.

OUAT

Tinker Bell had come to Captain Hook when she ran from the Lost Boys, and he fought for her freedom as if she were a lady in a medieval romance and he her knight in shining armor, but that was the least of her worries.

Hook ordered the anchor raised and the _Jolly Roger_ to full sail, away from Neverland, but the second the ship started to move, she was attacked. Mermaids and whatever other sea creatures Peter could muster, including the ticking crocodile that terrified the captain so much that he locked himself in his cabin. Tinker Bell, having been dragged in with him, witnessed the panic attack first hand.

Hook clutched his chest and sank to the floor, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, as the ticking continued. Tink noticed the man in the red hat tending to him and couldn't help but wonder who was steering the ship. She flew toward the keyhole, cast a backward glance at Hook, and flew out to the helm, unmanned as she had feared. She sprinkled the wheel with dust and straightened out the course of the ship.

The sea pitched and rolled beneath the hull of the _Jolly Roger_, and it took almost all Tink had to hold her steady. The crocodile, a great beast that almost looked like a dragon, appeared in front of the prow. No wonder he's afraid of that thing, Tink thought.

The storm and the monsters persisted for hours before the _Jolly Roger_ emerged in the middle of a broken wave. It wasn't until they made landfall that the waterlogged crew learned they were missing six of their number.

OUAT

Tink broke eye contact and looked at the well. "I heard the waters can restore what has been lost," she said.

"I've heard the same," Hook replied, and he gestured to the mason jar fastened to his belt. It was a fifth full of water.

"You think that'll help you get your brother back."

"He's lost, yes?"

She nodded and looked away. "I'll give you that."

"So, what brings you here?"

"Wendy asked after you."

"Did she?"

"She's worried about you, thinks you might've lost your mind and are basically fixating on an impossibility. She also thinks you're a hell of a lot crazier than you actually are right now."

"How do we reach her?"

Tink waved over the well, and some water floated up and formed something resembling a mirror. Wendy appeared on the other side; she was kneeling in front of what Tink could reasonably guess to be a lake or other body of water. "I see you've found him," she said.

Tink nodded. "But he's a hell of a lot more sane-looking than we thought he was," she said. "He's still a fan of killing people, though."

"That's to be expected." Wendy looked at Hook. "You may look sane," she said, "but trying to destroy the wraith for your brother's soul is a fool's errand."

"I don't think my brother was taken by the wraith," Hook replied. "I think he is the wraith."

"You're an idiot," she said bluntly. "There's no hope in hell you're getting him back if he actually is the wraith. Your brother's dead."

"You know what?" Tink asked. "You're a fatalist."

"Magic has its limits."

"There it does, but here, nobody knows."

"Well, you're there and I'm here, and so far, nobody knows how to get to and from without a portal, and it looks like if our visitors from Storybrooke are looking for a way back, then there's no portal."

"Not so far as we can tell, either."

"Communication seems to be no problem, though," Hook said. "A clue? The key?"

"What's he talking about?" Wendy asked.

"He's thinking aloud," Tink replied. "He's trying to do two things at once: get his brother back and now try to help you find a way out. You know, it would be a lot more useful if he fried one egg at a time." She said this last sentence slowly and cast her eyes in his general direction.

"Yes, yes it would," Hook said.

"Ultimate small wins this round. You've borne witness."

"Indeed I have," Wendy said. "I'm afraid I must bid you adieu. Someone has to make sure the haven doesn't fall to chaos." She touched the surface of the water and disappeared. The water fell back into the well.

Tink turned to Hook, who raised his brow and asked, "You call yourself ultimate small?"

"Sometimes," she replied. "We are going to get your brother back, but it's going to have to be a collaborative thing. Who've you been talking to?"


	6. The Plan

The Plan

Bae had been home with Belle, whom he had yet to have a decent conversation with, not ten minutes before someone rang the bell. "I'll get it," he said, and he answered the door to a second face he hadn't expected to see in a long time. "Tinker Bell."

"The one and only," she replied. "Word on the street is you've got a little bit of a stake in helping Captain Hook get his brother back, and you've got an idea how it can be done."

"I wouldn't say the latter, but the former, yeah, one could say that."

"So you don't know how it can be done," Hook said, appearing behind Tinker Bell.

"How what can be done?" Belle asked behind Bae.

"We have a wraith problem," Bae said to her. "A wraith problem we're not entirely sure we can solve, with or without Rumpelstiltskin's help."

"I'm sure his help would certainly be of use to you."

"Yes, but if I get myself in trouble, the less he knows, the better for everyone else involved. Trust me."

"Can I at least help?"

"Of course."

"You want information on the wraith? Well, I think I know where to start."

OUAT

"Here it is, everything Rumpelstiltskin never wanted you to know about wraiths," Belle said, opening a book she'd pulled off a shelf and turning toward them. "Don't tell him I'm letting you know this."

"We won't," Bae said with a smile. She handed him the book.

"Also, don't take it out of this section of the library."

"Got it." He suddenly remembered something, but he waited until Belle left before sending a message to August, pertaining to the file he'd forgotten to return. August replied to the effect that he was already on it, and Bae desperately hoped he wasn't lying.

"So, what're we looking at?" Hook asked as he took a seat at the table.

Tink opened the book to the index. Then she turned to a page toward the beginning of the book. "Here's something: 'Jasper Hook was reported missing at roughly the same time as the wraith first began to appear in the Enchanted Forest.'"

"Lends credence to your theory," Bae added.

"Indeed it does," Hook replied.

"Anything else?"

Tink flipped to another section, skimmed it, and then turned to the index and skimmed that. "No information on how, or if, it can be destroyed," she said.

"No surprise there," Hook said. "You can't kill what's already dead, if what Wendy says is true."

"Probably is. I've always gotten the impression that you need to be dead to suck souls. I've never heard of a live person doing it."

"In any event, is there any clue about what our plan of action should be?"

Bae leaned back in the chair, rubbed his face with his hands, and let out a breath into them. Then he started thinking aloud. "Rumpelstiltskin created the wraith, if we follow this theory, so that means he'll know or be able to figure out how to un-make a wraith. Hook," he said to the captain, "you may need to start reconciling yourself to the fact that the best we can do for your brother is save his soul."

Hook exhaled and looked away. "Why're you telling him that?" Tink asked.

"Can't get your hopes up too high. Doesn't work out so well when it blows up in your face. I just want you to take my word for it rather than living through it like I did."

The captain returned his gaze to Bae and whispered, "Thank you for that." He and Bae shook hands.

"So, we go talk to Rumpelstiltskin?" Tink asked.

"No, I go talk to Rumpelstiltskin," Bae said. "He'd be anywhere from crazy to evil to anyone else, but I'm his son."

"You're related?" Hook asked. "How's that possible?"

"Another Hordor," Bae muttered to himself. "You must've heard the rumors that I'm not his biological son, but guess what, it doesn't matter. He raised me, so that makes him my father. Savvy?"

"I just never saw it."

"Well, you know now." Bae stood. "If you two will excuse me..." With that, he walked out.

OUAT

Bae approached the door of the pawn shop to find the closed sign and his father bustling about inside. He waited for Rumpelstiltskin to exit the establishment, and when Rumpelstiltskin noticed him, he said, "Hey."

"Hey, Papa," Bae replied. "I wanna, um, ask you a few questions."

"Alright." Rumpelstiltskin gestured for Bae to walk with him. "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's about Jasper, again."

"I thought we tried that already, and it led to the incident at the harbor."

"Well, we're trying again, and while I don't necessarily want to trust the captain as far as I can throw him, I do need something to do with my life. Idle hands are the devil's playground, as the saying goes."

"So you're doing this partly for you."

"Exactly."

"What, then, do you hope to achieve?"

"Hook's belief is that his brother became the wraith as the result of your deal, and he's basically trying to figure out how to get his brother back. I've already told him that the best we can probably do is give him a peaceful rest, and I don't want him to get his hopes up and have them crushed into fine powder." Bae paused for a deep breath. "So that's how things stand," he concluded.

"Do you honestly think there's a way it can be done?"

"That's why I'm asking you. You've dealt with wraiths before, under questionable circumstances, I'll admit, but you have the experience."

"Oh, thank you."

"So, what do we do?"

"Actually," Rumpelstiltskin said when he paused, "that's something I've never needed to know, but I'm sure to accomplish such a task as what I'm sure you're thinking of would take a force of nature."

Bae threw his arms around Rumpelstiltskin's shoulders, said, "You're a genius," and ran back the way he had come, leaving a very, very confused Rumpelstiltskin in the dust.

OUAT

Bae forced himself to walk when he crossed the threshold of the library and found Tink and Hook exactly where he had left them. "August's place, now," he said brusquely, grabbing the two of them and dragging them after him. Bae didn't stop for anyone or anything until they were all safely behind August's deadbolted door. "What's going on?" August asked.

"Okay, this is the part where you listen to me," Bae said. "Hook, you have a sample of well water, which is said to restore lost things. We also know that the knife and the wraith medallion are connected magically. Specifically, the knife is the key to the medallion's power. Furthermore, we know that Rumpelstiltskin made a deal with Hook's brother Jasper and the suspicion is that this somehow resulted."

"So what do we do?"

"I was getting there. What we do is, you three back me up while I get marked and summon the wraith. Now, who here as good aim?"

"Wait, what? Are you nuts? That thing will kill you. Read my lips: It will kill you."

"I know that. We just have to stop it first."

"How?"

"With the Dark One's knife."

"He's going to ask you about this," Hook said.

"Yeah, I know, and he's never gonna let me do it, which is where you guys can also help me. We're gonna either break into his place, the pawn shop, or both, in the dead of night."

"You're going to rob from your own father?" August asked.

"Like I said, he'll never let me kill myself like this." He looked at Hook. "You want your brother back?" Hook nodded. "If this is the only reasonable way to do it, will you back me on it?"

"Yes."

"You two, if otherwise we'll have another wraith problem like whatever Rumpelstiltskin conjured up before I got here?"

Tink nodded, but August asked, "Are you sure about this? I mean, really, really sure?"

"Yes."

He released a heavy breath. "This is crazy, but it had better work."

"Alright, let's go."


	7. Death and Life in Storybrooke

Death and Life in Storybrooke

Bae slipped into Rumpelstiltskin's abode and glanced back through the French windows at Hook, Tink, and a still reluctant August. He took a deep but silent breath and eased his way up the stairs to his father's room. If this worked, he'd be in deep trouble with his father but the world would be a little bit safer and he could focus on finding a way around the Ring that wasn't the harbor.

He slipped into his father's bedroom and spotted a small polished wood box on the shelf. "I hope you can forgive me for this," he whispered as he reached for the box. He opened it and removed the knife, and then he replaced the box exactly as he found it and walked out of the room.

OUAT

Rumpelstiltskin heard the bedroom door close and footsteps retreat from it, downstairs and to the back door. He didn't even need to look at the box to know that his knife had been taken. He climbed out of bed and began to change.

OUAT

"So far, so good," Bae said. Hook passed one of his guns to Tink, and they walked to the town square. "The medallion, please." The captain handed him the pouch. Bae passed the knife off to August, opened the pouch, and touched the medallion.

Immediately his skin burned. He bit his lip to keep from waking the dead and threw the bag aside. "Be ready...with the water," Bae gasped, finally releasing the medallion. His breathing was heavy. Hook sprinkled some of the water on the medallion, and Bae plunged the tip of the knife dead center into it. The wraith emerged from it, and Bae removed the knife and passed it off to August again. "Be ready," he said to the three of them.

The wraith studied Bae for a moment before beginning to suck his soul. Again, Bae bit his lip against the sensation of being torn in two, and he summoned every ounce of energy he had. Be a force of nature, he told himself. Fire is a force of nature. I am Baelfire.

The energy came to him, and he brought it up to the surface as much as possible. "Now," he yelled. He vaguely felt Tink and Hook enchant the knife with pixie dust and well water, respectively. "I...am...Baelfire." With everything he had, he forced the wraith back, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

August threw the knife.

OUAT

Rumpelstiltskin saw the flash and then his boy collapsing to the ground, but that was all he needed to see to limp over.

Bae looked up at the spirit the wraith had left behind, the glowing form of a young man somewhere in his twenties. He felt his father's arm on his shoulder, and he stood.

Captain James Hook approached the spirit and whispered, "Jasper?" Jasper nodded. Bae watched the spirit floating over the wraith's remains, being swept away by the winds as particles of black dust. Jasper floated over to Hook and embraced him. "My brother," Hook whispered.

"Brother," Jasper replied. "I have to go now. Remember me, alright?"

"Always." Jasper pulled away and disappeared as a light floating up to the sky. "Always," Hook whispered after him. Bae turned to him, clapped him on the back, and shook his hand. Hook looked over Bae's shoulder at Rumpelstiltskin, but his face and eye were both blank.

"You know, it's getting late," Tink said.

"Yeah," August added. "I think I'm gonna call it a night."

"Agreed," the captain said. The three of them vacated the square.

Bae turned to Rumpelstiltskin and said, "I kind of figured this would happen. Did you?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Yes." Bae nodded in response and walked back to his father's place. Rumpelstiltskin fell into step beside him.

OUAT

The commander stood before the hearth in her bedchamber. It had flared earlier, an indication that not only had he found his power, but he was getting better and more forceful in using it.

She tucked a beaded strand behind her ear and looked up when someone rapped on her door. "Come in," she said, turning for once to face her guest.

"The wraith is dead," Mulan said.

"The gods bless the original soul." Mulan nodded in agreement. "Is there a way to go there?"

"We found a way, but it had to be destroyed."

The commander nodded. "Keep going, and good luck."

"Thank you." Mulan paused. "If I may, what will you do now?"

"Help Baelfire find me."


End file.
